>> steve: fantastic. bill: there are significant concerns about iran's nuclear program. this is new video in from an emergency meeting called by the united nations in europe. reports are iran is advancing its nuclear program and hiding the evidence from the u.s. and just about everyone else who wants to know what it's up to. good morning to you, martha. martha: good morning. i'm martha maccallum here in washington. a defiant iran appearing to thumb its nose at calls to stop its uranium enrichment program. bill: leland vittert is live on the story. report report israelis are saying we told you so.

front page of the big daily newspaper proof, iran is building a nuclear bomb. the facility is 20 miles south of tehran. it's a secret military facility the inspectors from the united nations have asked to get into. tehran says no, they finally say yes, but satellite images show there are cleanups going on there. it is evidence that iran is work on the bomb. the ambassador says iran has no interest in nuclear weapons. bill: how does this change the calculation of a possible israeli attack on iran's facilities? >> reporter: this is more evidence to what israel has been

saying that there is going to be a nuclear iran. there are reports that iran based on this and israel along with the united states, the israelis and americans reached a deal that would say israel hold off on an attack until 2013. right now experts say you need to have an attack in the next 6 months because of the israeli air force capability. this would give sanctions more time to work. iran said we welcome the new sanctions time to work but they said at the same time sanctions are going to fail which brings us back to where we are today. bill: president obama saying just the other day he believes sanctions will work. martha, thank you. martha: the latest news on iran comes as israel raising threats over tehran's threats to -- over

israel's threats. all right. we are in washington this morning with brand-new polls out as republican candidates turn to the next critical contest in the race for the white house. this coming tuesday all attention will turn to mississippi and alabama where they will hold their primaries. all the candidates would like to get that handle on the southern states. here is how things are shaping up. these are post super tuesday polls. mitt romney is in the lead now in alabama. rick santorum did have a lead in some polls a couple days ago, but romney out in front 31%. rick santorum trailing by 10 points. newt gingrich and ron paul in

third and fourth place in those races. and the gingrich campaign has said they are risking everything on those two southern primaries. they have always felt that that sweep through the south should be where newt gingrich would be capable of being strong. a campaign spokesman for mr. gingrich says they are a must-win in alabama and mississippi. he won georgia handily. last night in birmingham gingrich predicted victory. >> when we win this primarily and the primary next door we will have reset this primary race. it's the most amazing thing i have ever seen. >> reporter: gingrich canceled planned events in kansas. he has won fewer total delegates

than both mitt romney and rick santorum. so watch that. bill: we have fox news alert. new job numbers in the number of americans filing for first time benefits up to 362,000. we'll get the latest monthly jobs number out tomorrow. you can see how that rate has gone up since december 2007. in the last few months it ticked down a bit. stuart varney, how significant is this move? >> reporter: the trend is positive. we have gone from 400,000 new claims for unemployment benefits down to 360,000. at this point, 2 1/2, 3 years after the end of a recession we should be booming. the economy should be growing 4%, 5%, 6% a year.

we are stalled with low growth, high unemployment and a massive buildup of debt. we look a lot like europe. the super fission picture is there is improvement but underlying it we are still in bad shape. bill: the numbers from last week were revised higher. the number of billionaires according to "forbes" is growing. how many and why? >> reporter: there are now 425 american billions. who do you think has the second most? bill: the second? >> reporter: american number one, who is number 2. bill: russia? >> reporter: you are right. 96. which city has the most billionaires? any idea? bill: new york. >> reporter: wrong, moscow with 78. new york is second with 58.

the first billionaire ever, who do you think that was? john d. rockefeller. his grandson is still a billionaire. that's wealth retention over three generations. bill: nice quiz. i love it. there was a congressman here that wants to recognize what he considers the true unemployment number including people who are working part time or have given up working completely. congressman duncan hunter. martha: president obama firing back at claims's responsible for high gas prices. >> we can place our bets on the fuel of the past or on american

know-how and ingenuity and american workers. the next time you hear a politician plotting out a 3-point plan for $2 gas, you let him know we know better. tell him we are tired of hearing phoney election year promises that never come about. martha: arizona republican jon kyl is the senate minority whip and i'm pleased to be in your town -- your adopted town when you are not in arizona the rest of the year. what goes through your mind when you hear the president say that. >> gasoline is the fuel of the past. everybody who fills their tanks today will wonder what obama is talking about. he has done everything he can for subsidies. but they can't get the price down low enough to where it competes with fossil fuel. the gasoline in our cars.

so they have got a policy to drive the cost of gasoline up. if you look at all the things they have done it has that effect. first all they are not expanding the drilling for oil and gas and exploration in the united states on public land and on offshore areas including alaska where we can do that. he turned town the keystone pipeline. he tried to raise tax on oil and gas companies. the cap and trade program would have significantly raised the cost of fuel. obama said under my plan energy prices will necessarily skyrocket. you have got all the regulatory items that are reported now to put some refineries out of business. and a weak dollar which drives up the cost of gas. all of those policies of the obama administration are contributing to the increase in gas prices. martha: a trucking company to

run on natural gas, he got criticism for that because the administration has put forth new regulations on fracking. is that contradictory? he's talking about republican candidates and how they are talking about gas. newt gingrich says he could get it down to $2.50 a gallon. what do you think about the republican candidates' argument on this issue? >> the day president obama took office gas was $1.87. under his administration it has more than doubled in price. the five things, six i guess it was, have contributed to those increases in prices. you can't do it overnight but you can begin the process. when he says these things don't take place for 10 years, that's wrong. you can get increased pro cushion. to the excellent is speculation and even his administration

hasn't found any, that speculation ceases. and if we had done these things during this administration we would be on our way to fuel efficiency. martha: there is evidence the economy is improving and that may be slipping away from the republicans as an issue. >> stuart varney just said, it's still bad. the trend may be slightly good but there are too many things dragging down economic recovery. when you go to the grocery store to buy something, they had to get it there by a truck. the increased cost in fuel for that truck raises the cost of everything you buy, and that rebound all around the economy. there are so many things we can do to improve the economy. the administration seems bent on keeping fuel prices high was of

their goal keeping people off fossil fuels. >> for his election it's not a good thing. but for policy look what he has don't last 3 1/2 years. actions speak louder than words. martha: romney seems to be pulling out -- is pulling out in front in terms of his delegate count. santorum's backers are telling gingrich he needs to get out. do you think it's time for republicans to rally around mitt romney or not? >> i saw karl rove in the green room. you couldn't have a better expert on this. ask carl. these are all friend of mine. they are having a rowdy race. martha: would you like to see a nominee soon? >> it would probably to be our advantage as a republican to have a nominee sooner rather than later. though if you look at clinton-obama race three years

ago i don't think clinton got out until 6-7 weeks from now. martha: thanks for coming into the studio, we appreciate it. bill: those are some of the stories we are watching out of new york and washington. new reports about the afghanistan air force and illegal activity. what's happening there today? martha: some brand-new poll numbers coming into america's newsroom. these will give you something to chew over. take a look at what we have got. where they stand after super tuesday. reports mitt romney's team is saying he has the race for delegates in the bag. as senator kyl just told us carl has all the numbers coming up. >> that's why we have to start anew here. we have to do well in kansas. we have to win in kansas. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

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bill: romney currently leads the count 419 delegates and on tuesday in alabama and mississippi, 84 delegates are on the line. karl rove, former senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to president george w. bush. i'm afraid of the guy -- "the washington post" says it is nearly impossible for anyone else to capture the republican presidential nomination. is that a fact? >> let's look at the numbers.

there have been 743 delegates awarded thus far in the contest. there are 1,543 more yet to go. romney to secure the nomination which takes 1,144 delegates. romney would need to win 47.3% of the delegates. and forum 62.7%. romney is winning 56% of the delegates. santorum 24% and speaker gingrich

13%. i'm supposed to be look at this as objectively as i can. bill: knowing what you know about romney and gingrich and santorum, will they listen to that message? >> i'm not sure they necessarily need to. a candidate needs to give it their all. when they feel it's impossible in their hearts then they need to give up. this conversation about you ought to get out. santorum saying to gingrich you ought to get out. gingrich saying you need to get out. romney saying you both ought to get out. it's not constructive. people in politics tend to be stubborn. when you tell them to get out they tend to stiffen their

spine. bill: in '08 romney got out early. what if he goes 0-3 in kansas, alabama, and mississippi. >> they will be proportional. we could have another oklahoma. santorum won oklahoma and got 14 delegates. romney came in second and got 13 delegates. gingrich came in third and got 13 delegates. we could see that in alabama and mississippi with the delegates being split three ways. we may have a delegate race that's a lot like it is today with the candidates separated roughly by the numbers. bill: there are four contests that remain where it's winner

take all. between utah, new jersey, delaware and the district of washington, d.c. >>s with is winner take all. california is winner take all at the congressional district level. what is giving romney the boost in a couple of contests that rick santorum took a pass on. arizona, florida, and newt gingrich took a pass on arizona as well. those two together gave him 79 delegates. it's hard once you start winning those winner take all contests to win if a majority of the rest of the delegates are going to be won proportionately. it hold advantages for romney. bill: carl, thank you. martha: k.t. mcfarland says we

are counting down to a conflict in the middle east. what iran's latest move really means. [ male announcer ] for the saver, and a big first step.

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bill: a recall for 600,000 toyotas involving three vehicles. to fix silicone grease leaks that may cause ignition or starting problems. 495,000 tacoma trucks. it may deactivate the driver's air bags. martha: a man staged a silent protest in front of the supreme court and got arrested for it.

douglas kennedy is live with the news in our latest installment taking liberties. >> reporter: is a protest still a protest if no one seize or hears it. that's the question being asked by this protester in washington, d.c. chairld hodge believes in the power of protest. you believe this is a fundamental american right. >> i believe people should be allowed to protest and picket against the government because we are paying for their services. they are supposed to serve the american people. >> reporter: last year hodge wore this sign and stood peacefully in front of the supreme court. he stood right here on the public plaza and said he was completely silent and stood over 100 feet from the entrance to the supreme court. nonetheless, officers arrested

him for violating a so-called no speech zone. he's challenging hodge's arrest. >> this is a dangerous trend. putting people so far away from government officials that government officials can't hear the speech. >> reporter: americans are deeply moved by spontaneous protests in other countries. >> we are supposed to be an example of freedom to the world. how can we limit free speeches specially in front of the supreme court. >> we are not limiting spree speech. law enforcement is moving the people to a safe distance away from the court allowing them to demonstrate and not infringe other people's free speech and access to the building. >> the first amendment means nothing. they are destroying the first amendment. >> reporter: white says speech

needs to be seen or heard for it to be truly free. martha: very interesting. douglas, thank you very much. bill: there are new developments on an investigation into the afghanistan air force. what they are accused of using military aircraft for. details on that. martha: keep an eye on your gps. why a solar storm could cause some major problems. solar storm may mess with your electronics today, we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] sweet. tangy. creamy. you don't often find these things in one place. maybe in vegas, if you know where to look. and us. so come on, give us a whirl. ♪

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it's faster and easier than coffee. every afternoon when that 2:30 feeling hits. -every day. -every day. every day is a 5-hour energy day. [ male announcer ] 5-hour energy. every day. martha: let's go back to our top story today. what iran does not want the rest of the world to know. some curious satellite photos causing alarm. a u.n. watchdog group raised this red flag. they say there is image evidence tehran is making efforts to cover up traces of radioactive material that is possibly coming from nuclear weapons testing. k.t. mcfarland is a national security expert. good morning. k.t. what is alarming about this specific finding? >> it, more of the same. the same cycle. we shouldn't be surprised. we find out about it. iran says let's negotiate.

we go to the table, we let up the pressure and talks break down and the whole cycle starts again. the problem is when the cycle starts the next time iran is always closer to nuclear weapons. i concluded in this entire game that iran is playing nuclear weapons is only a means to an end. they wanted to control the persian gulf in the mediterranean sea which gives them control of the world's oil flow. once they have that plus nuclear weapons nobody stops them. martha: what leads you to that second conclusion that it's not about nuclear power. >> it's not about nuclear power. they have already taken steps that go way beyond what they need for nuclear power. what do they need for nukes? it's like baking a cake. ingredients, the recipe, you need the pan. they are together ingredients

now. they are enriching uranium. reports are coming out almost every week saying they are enriching it faster and more furiously than we thought. the pan is the missile to deliver that weapon and they need the blue print. the administration says they haven't made the decision to assemble the bomb. well, they have all the ingredients lined up. by the time they make the decision it's too late to do anything about it. that's why you see israel taking a sceptical look at iran's nuclear weapons program. martha: you look at the administration's position. you could make the argument that i suppose all this back and forth has kept them at bay and perhaps you can have a policy of deterrence that gives them a reason mott to want to. >> i think even by time i'm not sure you ultimately deter them in the way we just heard the soviet union. if iran wants what it wants

which is enough nuclear weapons to threaten that region, they get it very quickly. the problem is we are approaching the point where you just have two rotten options. bomb iran or let israel bomb iran or let iran get the bomb. there still is a narrow window -- i'm not sure president obama will do it. and that's to enforce the sanctions congress has passed, the europeans have passed, enforce them today and do it ruthlessly so you crash the iranian economy so the iranian people go back into the streets and demand change. martha: that might nudge along regime change which many people think is the silver bullet in the situation. k.t., thank you. bill: some brand-new polling from our colleagues as the fox news latino look at how religion

to play this fall in the latino vote. chuck roach is with the american worker latino project. he works with the congressional hispanic caucus. how are you doing, chuck, and good morning. i'm looking at these numbers, very important, 44%. what does that tell us? would that surprise anybody? >> i think religion has always been a central theme within the latino community but the larger numbers of the jobs and economy will drive the latinos to the polls. president obama has some good numbers but we have a ways to go. the latino electorate looks different than the latino population. those who show up and vote look and act like me, born in america and parents born in america. bill: are you better off than you were four years ago, is your

family situation getting better? 35% say better, 32% say it's worse. >> i think that number is remarkable when you look at a president who has been in for four years where he has 75% of that same policing they would support him even though people are being cautiously optimistic about where we are headed now. with a split congress, getting into those districts, having those communications and talking about the economic differences between the part why is should be the key. bill: that jobs number is all critical. now we ask the following question. is the world -- is the united states the best place in the world in which to live? 76% say yes. address that, john. >> this is an opportunity nation. my family came here like a lot of latinos came here to make a better life for themselves and

they want economic security in becomeo coming here. they are just like me and just like my family. they pay their taxes and play by the rules. they want an opportunity for their children and grandchildren to live in the freightest country in the world. bill: our fox poll said 85% of all americans find this country to be the best place to live in the world. >> that would explain the latino population is younger. my family has only been here for 3 generations. there are latino families that have only been here two generations. we are learning to work with the entire country and the fabric that ties us all together. bill: thank you, chuck. bill: you can check out our sister network online. check it out right now.

it's online for you at foxnewslatino.com. martha: we are poring over these numbers. romney, gingrich and santorum. we are digging deeper into those numbers. plus they say -- not ron paul says or rick santorum says, these men say they are not heroes. they ran into a burning car and pulled a man to safety it's an unbelievable story. one of these heroes joins us live. >> we have a person in the car unresponsive next to a huge fire. >> you have got to get out of theiv car, buddy. call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert

your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. and hello to "whoa, yum." use campbell's cream of chicken soup to make easy enchiladas, cheesy chicken & rice, and other chicken dishes that are oh...so...whoa. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

martha: learning new details on the death of whitney houston.

a report says everything in her will will go to her only child. that will was drafted a month before her daughter was born. her inheritance will be placed in a trust. the will mentioned houston's ex bobby brown, but it does not leave him any of her fortune. bill: are things suddenly feeling like 2008? four years ago the fight for the democratic nomination stretched all the way to june? could we see a similar battle this year? newt gingrich insisting even though he may be third at moment, he's in for the long haul. >> if he wants to get out i'm all for him getting out. i'm for romney felt out. >> despite the many requests by

the washington establishment, i'm staying in this race. bill: is that gooder to bad for the party. brad blakeman and doug schoen, gentlemen, good morning. brad, you know what doug was doing four years ago, he was working with hillary clinton. she did not drop out until almost mid june. is that a good thing or a bad thing. >> it was a different set of circumstances. hillary clinton and barack obama managed to keep their race civil. there was no incumbent. now we have an incumbent that's above the fray. we have an increasingly nasty race that's producing polarization. we have a poll that shows mitt romney's negatives going sky high. >> no panic on the republican side but this will come down to

mathematics. there comes a time with it's mathematically impossible to continue in the nomination and that's when it can hurt. if the candidate goes on a scorched earth policy it can do damage. but we are not at that point now. i think we could be at that point in a month if romney continues to pick up delegates and it becomes mathematically impossible for theoers to get the nomination. bill: gentlemen, are you ready for the headlines. april 2008, abc news, negative campaign tarnishes clinton and became. cnn called the pennsylvania primary a bruising race marked by sharp attacks and tough mailers and attack ads. "new york times," the candidates aura of inevitability has diminished. >> all true. and, bill, four years ago there were not super pacs.

you did not have millions of dollars of exclusively negative ads being run. the democratic party got back together in 2008 and by september obama had an insurmountable lead. mitt romney was in massachusetts for an all day strategy session with his advisors pleading with them to stay above the fray. bill: the super pacs because they have so much freedom to spend money -- >> it's more ads and more negativity. it's all negativity, bill. bill: do you agree with that point? >> i think the republicans will unite no matter who our nominee is. we dislike obama's policies more than we dislike the policies of the winner eventually.

the arch nemesis of obama becomes his secretary of state. we'll do the same thing. we'll beat obama based on our unity. republicans need to understand that in order to beat this president, we must be united. the sooner we get a nominee the better it is. bill: do you agree with doug's point about the super pacs? >> they are a pox on both houses. when a third party can spend more money than the individual candidates themselves and trick the people into believing it's the candidate delivering the message it's dangerous or republicans and democrats. bill: i don't know if voters think about that. we are asking about that very question today. thank you for your time. you can weigh in. go to foxnews.com and click on

our vote item there today. what we are asking is whether you think it's good for the party or bad for the party. you can weigh in right now. we'll bring you result a bit later. we started this late yesterday. and it wasn't real clear-cut. we were almost down the middle for what viewers were thinking. martha: keep it coming. and we also want to talk to you about the surprising unemployment numbers that came in today. just how many people is the big question, are really unemployed. does that number tell the whole picture? we need to be realistic about what's going none the u.s. economy. a california congressman claims it's higher than what the government is reporting. we'll talk to duncan hunter about that. he will join us moment away. stay with us. looking good! you lost some weight.

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bill: 9 minutes before the hour. there has been a major defection if syria. the deputy oil minister abandoning the assad regime. apple has done it again. third generation ipad. it's called the new ipad. it has a faster internet connection. apparently the screens amazing. a star soccer goalie wants to play for the school's football team. she walked on to be a kicker and nailed a 51-yard field goal. go mo. martha: wisconsin's attorney general will appeal a ruling to block the voter i.d. law it's one of 31 states that requires

people to show i.d. when they come to the polls to vote. judge napolitano is here to weigh in on that. >> wish i could kick a 51-yard field goal. martha: they passed this law then said they couldn't put it into effect. >> the interaction and government and individuals with respect to voting is one of the few areas the constitution and federal government left to the state. the many states that do require voter i.d.s look on voting as a privilege. because it's a privilege like driving a car, the government has the right to compel you to identify yourself. wisconsin doesn't look upon voting as a privilege and looks at it as a fundamental right. so wisconsin takes the position that you don't have to prove that you are entitled to vote. the government has to prove that you are not entitled to vote.

that is a distinction with a difference. it says in a state like wisconsin where the right to vote is fundamental, you can't make someone show an i.d. before they can vote any more than you can make them show an i.d. before they can speak in public or walk down the street. martha: we are seeing states getting heat. many of which are getting heat for this law. a lot of folks say there is politics involved. the only reason these laws are passed is because they want to find a way to exclude certain people from voting, minorities. >> that is an argument that is being made by certain groups who typically don't have government issued i.d.s. the court in wisconsin found there was no evidence of that. it has not yet been a trial in wisconsin. that's what's interesting about this. this is a preliminary injunction. a ruling by the judge on the

basis of papers submitted to him before any trial takes place. there still needs to be a trial. if the state of wisconsin can demonstrate, there is a problem with people voting who don't have the right to vote because they voted elsewhere or because they don't live where they claim they have the right to vote. requiring a voter i.d., the federal courts have found is a reasonable and inoffensive way of making sure that the right people vote. martha: do you agree with that? >> with what? martha: do you have any problem with that? i'm curious what your opinion is. >> i do not think that showing and i i.d. before you get into a voting booth interferes with your right to vote or unduly burdens it. i think showing an i.d. before you vote assures that you are who you claim to be, that you live where you want to vote, intend to vote and that you have the right to vote there. but i'm not the judge in

wisconsin and he apparently disagrees with me. martha: i find it amazing that you just have to walk in and identify your signature from the last time in a book. bill: he is the judge around here. we have a brand-new snapshot of where the republican presidential hopefuls stand. new rasmussen numbers show who is strongest in a head-to-head match up with with president obama. martha: sun-maggedon 2012? look at that. we'll be right back. >> satellites might experience sort of upsets in electronics. you can have radio black out and some areas have already

experienced that. and a big fir. for the spender who needs a little help saving. for adding "& sons." for the dreamer, planning an early escape. for the mother of the bride. for whoever you are, for whatever you're trying to achieve, pnc has technology, guidance, and over 150 years of experience to help you get there. ♪

martha: the fox news alert, u.s. authorities are investigating the afghan air force right now. get this. for reportedly using military aircraft to smuggle illegal drugs and weapons around the country. this is a big story, forget and a brand new hour starting now with "america's newsroom", i'm martha maccallum coming to you today from washington, d.c. bill: you look good down there, martha! martha: thank you bill! bill: that's not a painting behind new. >> martha: it's the real deal, the real thing! bill: i'm bill hemmer, this is the same air force that was established and trained by the u.s. military and paid for with u.s. tax dollars. martha: quite a stoamplet conor powell is streaming live on this from kabul, afghanistan for us. >> reporter: march that is correct the u.s. government has spent some $2 billion, training and equipping the afghan air force, all in hopes here of building up an

afghan stewart system that will support the afghan government when u.s. and international troops leave in 2014 but now, the u.s. military says they're looking into allegations that there were members of the afghan air force that were using helicopters and airplanes bought by american taxpayers to ferry around drugs and weapons across the country as part of a large drug ring. the u.s. military stresses these are only allegations and this is not an official investigation and because they say they're just beginning to look into these allegations, these allegations stem from another investigation which happened earlier this year into the shooting of eight u.s. air men and one u.s. civilian, shot by coalnomy ahmed gole, an air force pilot, he shot the international advisers. this summer the air fofs was looking into that shooting and the allegations of drug running come from that. martha: i can just imagine, conor, people listening to this story and shaking their

heads, the money, investment in time, the personal treasure lost in afghanistan. what does this tell us if there's any truth to this about the afghan security forces and what about the rest of them? >> reporter: march that is correct the u.s. government and the international community have been spending billions here trying to build up the afghan security forces. as you know n. the last few weeks, there's been a rash of shootings by afghan security forces, police officers and soldiers shooting u.s. and international problems. this is an endemic problem across afghanistan. there is a real lack of trust in afghanistan between the coalition of forces. this only adds to that lack of trust. martha: terrible story and a tough pattern. conor powell, thank you very much. bill: got a new message now from santorum supporters for gingrich supporters: get out now. reports they want the former speaker to drop out of the race, paving the way, saying it will be a more favorable 2-man matchup with mitt

romney. but don't expect gingrich to budge any time soon. here's the former speaker: >> we are staying in this race, because i believe that it's going to be impossible to a moderate to win the general election. >> [applause] >> and i believe -- you know, we tried it in 1996 and it didn't work. bill: shannon bream, live in washington, to be clear, is santorum publicly calling on gingrich to get out? >> reporter: bill, here's what santorum said when he was asked directly on whether that's what he's asking gingrich to do, to step aside: >> i'm not saying i don't want him to get out. if he wants to get out, i'm all for him getting out, but i'm for mitt romney would get out. i wish president obama would just hand me the thing but that's not going to happen. >> reporter: there are also reports a top santorum strategist has been reaching out to the gingrich campaign, trying to persuade gingrich to step aside and

stand behind santorum but as you heard newt, he plans to stick around and he says, quote, the campaign will go on for many more months. bill: are these calls only coming from the santorum camp, shannon? >> reporter: as you would expect the romney campaign is calling for everyone other than mitt romney to drop out but this goes beyond that. a number of conservatives are speaking out, including a former beginning arrive staffer in south carolina saying step aside, let's stand behind santorum and there's an activist, conserve twitch hq saying if you drop out now and endorse santorum you can be a king maker, so a lot of naysayers but it doesn't seem to be persuading gingrich just yet. looks like he wants to stick it out and hash it out. bill thank you, shannon. martha: this feels a little reminiscent of when they were trying to tell hillary clinton to get out and gingrich says he has no plans to drop out of this race. he was at a rally in bin

hingeham, the former speaker mocked his opponents, went after the santorum visit to a space camp. watch: >> i just got told that senator santorum is going to go to huntsville tomorrow, which should be good. he should note that there is a space program. but the fact is, when governor romney said he'd fire somebody, go back and watch the debates, he said i'd fire somebody who came up with an idea like that. i know he likes firing people, but still, what occurred to me was he would have fired christopher columbus. he would have fired john f. kennedy. he would have fired the wright brothers. can you imagine if they came in and said i think we're going to go fly? doesn't fit my management model. can't take a big risk. martha: ooh, fighting words from newt gingrich there. well, that space camp he was talking about in mocking santorum for, he visited that same facility.

>> terrific debate, martha, with doug and brad about 25 months ago. we're asking you at home, is a long republican primary good or bad for the party? go to our website, foxnews.com/"america's newsroom". you can weigh in and vote right now while we're on the air here. we'll bring you the nonscientific results a bit later in our program. about 55 minutes after the hour. martha: look forward to that. we got brand new video in of mitch mcconnell on the senate floor and he is slamming president obama for blocking the keystone pipeline. let's take a look at this: >> it's hard to even comprehend how touch, completely out of touch, he is on this issue. i mean, think about it. at the moment when millions are out of work, gas prices are literally skyrocketing, and the middle east is in turmoil, we've got a president who's up making phone calls, trying to block a pipeline here at home. it's really almost

unbelievable. martha: that happening just moments ago, as the keystone battle continues on the floor of the senate today. we have -- we had jon kyl talking about it moments ago, bill. it continues to be a hot issue. bill it certainly does and without changes it will stay in the public discourse. thank you for that. seven minutes past the hour. check your blackberries, i phones, check your c phone, a massive solar storm could cause big problems for us. there is wicked weather brewing flght 93 million miles away! some expect some havoc on power grids, possibly, communication systems, gps navigation, around the big blue planet. julie banderas, live at our newsroom in new york looking at that. what will the storm bring? >> reporter: a lot of threats, really. you just talked about your cell phones. let's talk about gps, as we, the effects of the biggest solar storm hiting in five years, the storm started with a massive solar flare

tuesday and grew as it raked outward from the sun, shaking the globe's magnetic field. a cloud of charged particles is speeding towards earth at 4 million miles per hour. now, those particles started hitting this morning, and could disrupt utility grids, airline flights, satellite network, and gps services, especially in the northern areas. if you're wondering just how gps might be vulnerable, consider this. since technology has flourishes since the last solar storm peak ten years ago, nasa scientists say new things could be at risk. >> satellite might cause subpoena jet -- upsets in electronics, so they get forewarned, you could have radio blackout, and i believe the media on some sides have experienced that. >> reporter: and air travel expected to be

affected. planes that usually fly over the north pole could be rerouted to avoid exposing pilots to too much radiation. bill: what about our power supply? >> the electrical grid plans to experience difficulties. in 19 # nine, talk about issues, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in quebec, causing 6 million to lose power. but these storms sure do light up the sky as well, a beautiful light show as you can see there. a solar flare back in january created spectacular northern lights. and we could see a similar show when the lights hit their peak tonight. the northern lights could be far south as the great lakes states were lower but a full moon could make them harder to see so you're going to have to keep a close eye on the sky. bill: no issues for me yet. you? >> reporter: not yet. i'm going to call you on commercial break! bill do that and send me a text message and if the e-mail gets knocked off, maybe everybody could take a day off! >> >> reporter: what did we do before gps? i wouldn't make it to work!

>> bill: take the day off! see you julie. martha, what's next? martha: hopefully my train doesn't end up in ohio on the way home! in the meantime we've got a brand new look at the jobs picture in this country and we're going to get an even bigger look at it when we get that monthly number, but my next guest says you truly need to look at these numbers in a different way because true unemployment is actually much higher, so if you feel like that's the situation you may be right. he wants to overhaul the system. we're going to talk about that. bill: look at these two brave police officers, sing their officers to save a man behind a wheel inside that burning car. one of those heros is here live to explain how they were able to put this off and it goes on from there. martha: getting a look at some of our brand new first supertuesday numbers, scott rasmussen on the momentum out of supertuesday and what it looks like for these two and the folks who want to

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bill intoil the fbi now speaking out for the first time about the nypd monitoring muslims in new jersey. a secret surveillance program, stirring controversy. the special agent in charge, saying the operation is starting to have a chilling effect on getting muslim members in the community to could you tell. >> we're starting to see cooperation being pulled back, people are concerned they're being followed, people are concerned that they can't trust law enforcement. bill: for his part, ray kelly, police commissioner of new york, defend the program. that was special agent michael ward of the newark, new jersey division. he says without the trust of the muslim community, blind spots then are created.

martha: well, it is the number one issue that faces millions of americans. more than 360,000 filed for unemployment claims for the very first time, walked into the office to ask for that over the course of the last week. but that figure doesn't show the real jobless picture in this country. right now, a total of unemployed and so-called underemployed, people who are not in jobs that really match their skills, that number is up to 24 million people. that is a huge number. they're essentially working part-time or not up to their skill set, as i said. so that is up nearly 1.6 million from three years ago at this time. i'll joined by republican congressman duncan hunter, he has introduced legislation to recognize the true unemployment rate. morning. good to have you here. >> great to be with you. martha: so we need more legislation to make ito toe change the way we look at

this? >> yeah, we want to change the way that the federal government, the actual bureau of labor statistics, gives that number out. that's all we want to change. we want to just see the actual number of people that are unemployed that, have already dropped out of unemployment insurance, that have kind of said hey, i give up on this. we are counting those right now, 8.3% number does not include those. if you include those people, you're at about 10 percent. martha: i think everybody in the country knows that the number is bigger. it feels ligger than it looks. >> everybody who has friends know it's higher. martha: let's take a look at the figures we pulled up together. let's look at the comparison of those who are discouraged workers out there, and -- there we go. the number of discouraged workers in january 2012, just a couple of months ago, over a million. let's take a look at what that number was back in '09 and let's take a look at this one, which was a huge number, the average weeks that someone is unemployed, 40.1 weeks is the average amount of time that somebody is spending unemployed,

versus 2009 wrrks it was 19.8. you know, all this does -- all of this does really flesh out the picture of what the real story is out there, right? >> if you tell people they have to take part-time jobs, after they go -- after they go back to work after 40 years -- weeks, they were making 80,000 a year, many 35 now, if you include them it goes up to about 15 percent. so we just want to know what the truth is because we can't make good policy here unless we know what the actual unemployment number is. it's not 8 percent. anybody who's out there in the real world knows that. we need real numbers, not d.c. numbers. that's what this does. it says hey, what's the real unemployment. that's what we're asking for. we want to use that number as our federal statistic and by the way we already track it, we just want to use that as the basis for our policy making here in d.c. martha: but critics will say hey, i don't remember anybody complaining about this under a republican administration, they want to find a way to mike it look worse. >> it makes me look bad when

unemployment is fine, it makes the republican congress and democratic senate, anybody an elected representative and in charge, it makes them look good, so i don't think it goes one way. and if a republican gets elected this year and gets sworn in next year, this will be their unemployment figure, too. so you have to have truth, no matter who it hurts or who it actually affects. you have to have the actual truth. and that's what we knee here, truth is power and that's when things start getting fixed. martha: congressman hunter, good to talk to you today, we'll see how it goes. have a good one on this beautiful day in washington, d.c. it's gorgeous out there. you can walk back to your office. no problem, right? take care. bill you brought the sunshine, martha. congress continues to fight over budgets and spending. signs that house speaker john boehner might be having trouble rallying his own troops. ahead, what that means for our $15 trillion debt and growing, martha. martha: plus, rushing into a burning car to save a man's

life. these police officers say that they are not heroes. >> i'm good, i'm good, i'm good. >> there's a huge fire right behind gliew get out of the car, dude! >> give me a hand, i'm going to pull you out. but... home security systems can be really expensive. so to save money, we actually just adopted a rescue panther. i think i'm goin-... shhh! we find that we don't need to sleep that much. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

martha: about 22 minutes past the hour. and get used to paying more to fly. the faa saying air fares are expected to remain high for most of the decade. fbi chief robert mueller says he was basically on capitol hill getting grilled a bit over the bureau's release of a radical cleric back in 2002. they're promising a briefing on why an agent let anwar

al-awlaki go despite the fact that an outstanding warrant was out on the cleric. and peyton manning should not be out of work for long, folks. a day after the colts cut their star quarter back, media reports are saying at least six nfl deals and possibly as many as a dozen are interested in his services, and who wouldn't snb we wish him well. bill: he won't be unemployed for long! two police officers now honored as heroes for saving a man from a burning car. this is the actual rescue from the dash cam video in oregon. you might not be able to tell. that car is upside down, entirely in flames. here are the officers now as they hurry to get the man out of that car. >> you got one person in the car, unconscious, unresponsive, right next to a huge fire. >> sir, are you okay? >> you got to get out of the car, buddy. come on! buddy, you got to get out of the car. >> i'm good, i'm good. >> there's a huge fire behind you.

look outside! >> i'm generic i'm g. i'm good. >> give me a hand, i'm going to pull you out. >> i'm good. bill: that man is alive because of sergeant andrew copeland of the kaiser police department. he's with me now and sir, good morning to you. >> good morning. bill you've been hailed as a hero and this is the kind of scene you see in a movie and this is real life and we're watching it nowment you're the first officer on the scene. what did you sniend. >> well, as i was driving, as you can see in the video, as you pull around the corner, you see a car that's overturned and there's a huge fire right -- just immediately outside that car, a power pole was sheared off. you can see the power pole a little off to the right, and there were live wires arcing which engulfed another vehicle next to the car there. bill: there was danger all over the place and i imagine the flames kept you from getting too close. >> they were very close. bill: the driver's side, you cannot open. what did you do then officer? >> well, eventually, we were able to pry the passenger

door opened then get -- then basically crawl on the roof of the car, which was on the cement and officer vanford and i were able to pull the gentleman from the car. bill was he responsive? >> initially, no, he wasn't. i startled when i started yanking on him, then he came to and you can tell in the video he was comfortable where he was, he was not aware of the immediate danger outside the car. bill: was he drinking? >> he had been drinking before he got in this accident, yes, that is correct. bill: listen, you saved his life. you don't see this every day, either. you say sometimes you act before you think. explain that. >> that is true. yes, you know, you arrive on a scene like this and the first thing you want to do is make sure everybody is safe, and you know, sometimes you just don't think about the live wires and the fire that's right next to the car, you just go into rescue mode and that's what we did, and luckily, this one worked out well. it was a fortunate situation where everybody was able to walk away from, and you know, we can sit here and talk about it today.

bill: we can, thanks to you. a medal of valor from your home town. sir, thank you and give our reguards to your partner as well. -- weres -- regards to your partner as well, andrew copeland. we've watched this all week and how you hear the guy tell it. the guy inside that car can thank them. he's alive because of that. martha: he certainly can. boy. cominger here from washington, d.c. today, are there some troubles in that big building over my shoulder? why house speaker john boehner is losing his patience with his republican colleagues. next. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition?

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bill: calls for unity among republicans in the house. house speaker john boehner urging his colleagues to resolve their differences and pass a $260 billion transportation bill. he says it's paid for, and this is more than just a piece of legislation as we bring in mary catherine hamm for the daily caller and fox news crib tomplet looking at a $15.4 trillion debt that continues to weigh on this country. mary catherine, good morning to you, how you doing? >> pretty good. bill: boehner, apparently the word came out, they were meeting yesterday and he had a message for his colleagues, he said we're going to define this issue, no one else is going to define it for us. and even though the headlines maybe a year ago, everybody was talking about spending and the debt, they largely disappeared. but i think the thing to keep in mind about this issue, and you can flush

this out for us, that's why we brought you on, and that is this: how is the speaker going to get a majority of his members to vote for a piece of legislation, when so many of them are still willing to buck the trend and say you're going to have to work a lot harder for my vote? >> well, i think that's the fundamental problem in the house for speaker boehner right now, is that house conservatives have felt burned on a number of issues, smoke and mirrors cuts in the past, various deals that have been made and they feel like they've sort of been shupt dollars to the side and he's sort of cobbled together this coalition of moderate and some democratic votes at times, and that has upset them, so you're at the point now where speaker boehner is saying listen, we've got this transportation bill, we want to put our mark on t. conservatives say i don't think that shows enough contrast with the senate investigation of the bill and with democrats and we don't want to be democrats, right? we've been through this many, many tombs, and that's the fundamental difference you have with the house conservatives and speaker boehner who does not want the bloup fights with the white house which republicans have tended to

lose occasionally. when this gets to this high conflict deadline pressure stuff, the public, even though in theory and in polling, therefore cuto they're for cutting spending and fighting for that, when it gets down to the wire they get upset that everybody is fighting. bill: what you're arguing is that the fiscal house conservatives are all too well aware that there are folks back home that know which way they're voting and if they don't hold up their end of the bargain they could be out of a job in november. >> not only that but they believe that the way to contrast with the president and the democrats is to do things that are more conservative, that are more fiscally conservative, stick to that message, say listen, this is what we're offering the senate, this is what we're offering democrats who want to spend us into the ground, make that argument in their home distribute and say we are different and this is what we want to do with the budget, this is what we want to do with tax relate and we are different from these guys. boehner not wanting a fight is not as anxious to make that contrast as stark as others would. bill: this was the quote attributed to the speaker: the american people

entrusted us with the majority in the house, is apparently what he told his colleagues. what we do with it is up to us. we can use it to take steps together, one at a time, toward the vision we share or do nothing, we can squander the time we've been given, allowing our internal disagreements to paralyze us he doesn't want that last part, does he? >> no, he certainly doesn't and to be fair to the speaker, they do get in trouble if they end up doing nothing because of an internal struggle. that plays badly for them. i think what conservatives have argued is hey, cobble together your most conservative 218 votes to pass something, instead of aligning with democrats or moderate republicans and wooing those guys, that's what they want. they want to put it on the senate's doorstep and say listen, this is what we're doing dil, shall is -- this is what we're sell to go the american people. >> bill: the good news is we have a message, the bad news is for that message to mean anything we have to back it up with action. >> right. this is where the rubber hits the road, too, something like a

transportation bill, everybody gets excited because they're getting money for their home district, right and people at home who might be for cutting in theory get excited because there are treats for their home district or whatever is going to serve them and that's a microcosm for cutting spending in america and it's tough to be tough about it. i think conservatives in the house want to be tough about it and explain it to their con extents but it's a tricky sell. bill: there are overarching big themes that play out across the country with this, also. $15 trillion. mary catherine, thank you. see you soon, okay? >> martha: well, there's a brand new front page report that says that president obama is topping previous presidents in his fundraising efforts. according to usa today, mr. obama has attend 191 fund-raisers for himself and for other democrats. that number beats president george w. bush's record. mr. obama is already surpassing the 173 fund-raisers that president

bush headlined during his entire first term. so i am very pleased to be joined now by ben labolt, the national press secretary to the president for his 2012 reelection campaign. ben, good to have you here. >> nice to be with you, thank you. martha: on the cover of usa today, obviously, there's an lot talked about in terms of how much time the president has spent, i think one ut of -- out of every three days he's on the road doing a fund-raiser. why is that? >> there's no doubt that the president is focused on what americans elected him to do,or e have to recognize we're in a different landscape, where special interests can give contributions to the other side, oil companies giving $200 million in an attempt to elect a republican to the white house. so we have to fight back against that and that involves a series of fundraising events but it also involves contributions from average americans across the country, the average contribution to our campaign is $55.

martha: i guess the question it raises is how is it going. there was talk about a billion dollars campaign, and you know, according to some of the numbers, your burn rate is very high, about $75 million cash on hand, according to the numbers that i have, which is a little lower than where the bush administration was at the a similar point when they were going after reelection, so word that you're bringing in bill clinton also to help out with fundraising. is the fundraising effort in trouble? >> well, the talk about a billion dollars was from the other side, to discourage discourage our small valor donors. martha: it wasn't knocked down in the initial statement. sue: that didn't succeed in that effort because we've had 1.3 million contributors to the campaign by the end of 2011, we reached a million donor mark twice as quickly as we did the last time but we're encouraging supporters to invest now, because we are growing the biggest grassroots campaign in history across the country. the republicans are betting they can win this thing on the air. we're betting that the decisive edge will be our supporters talking to their networks in states on the ground. martha: in terms of, you know, who will be brought in

to sort of help with that effort, there was a story earlier this week that former president clinton was felt that he could be helpful with wall street. are there concerns that some of those bridges have been burned with the discussion of fat cats, and you know, all of that that has gone under the bridge, concerns about raising money there 24 time around? o this time around? >> there were business leaders across industries who believe that taking steps to prevent another financial crisis was absolutely the right thing to do and they're supporting the president. but he's not going to talk walk away from his commitment to wall street reform. the republican candidates who have been out there trying to raise money off the fact that they want wall street to write its own rules again. martha: do you feel like they're dominating in that struggle to get that money which is always huge in any campaign? has the president sort of ceded that to the republicans this time around? >> i don't think so. i think our focus is growing on donor base as large as possible, so 98 percent of the contributions to our campaign come in amounts of $250 or less.

only 10 percent of mitt romney's contributions to his campaign have come in amounts of $200 or less. martha: i'm sure they've made a big effort lately that they want to see more of a broad sped grassroots fundraising from his folks. there's a new movie, i think it's going to be 17 minutes long, made by davis guggenheim, that got a lot of acclaim that you guys are rolling out. we'll take a trailer, a look at that. >> the entire security apparatus was in that room and now we had to make a decision. go or not go. >> as he walked out the room, he's all alone. this is his decision. nobody stands in their way. martha: it's dramatic, that little piece we've seen so far. what are your hopes for, who do hope to reach and how will it be put out there?

>> that's what the film is about, it's about the tough calls the president has made over the past three years, in the face of historic challenges, and it's about the journey that the nation has been on together. we're losing 750,000 jobs a month when he took office, we've created more than 3.7 million private sector jobs. this will be screened at events across the country next week hosted by our supporters but we're certainly hoping to reach people across the country with this effort. martha: ben, thank you very much, good luck to you and the campaign and all the campaigns out there. we appreciate you coming in today. >> thank you for having me on. martha: thanks. bill: got some breaking news, and money is cheap. the average rate on a 30-year mortgage dipped this week to 15-year loan -- the 15-year loan fell to a new all-time record low, fixed mortgage remaining a bargain at the start of the spring buying season, lowest since long term mortgages started in the 1950s, look at that number for the 15-year mortgage rate, the lowest we have ever seen, america. that makes home buying and

refinancing more attractive for those that qualify. it's cheap money. problem is, sometimes you're in a buyer's market, not a seller's market, and trying to move your house. nonetheless -- >> martha: that's the problem! i heard that! bill: it just does not add up, right martha? >> martha: it doesn't. no, it's a problem. we've got brand new poll numbers just into "america's newsroom" and it is the first post-supertuesday look at how the candidates are shaping up, because the numbers that happen before these big races often change as we see the aftermath. we're going to show you those in a moment. bill: they certainly do. she was a week away from retirement until she got caught sleeping on the job. the trouble for one police officer. look at that carefully! whoa. >> martha: oopsie. >> looks inappropriate to me >> putting mattresses on there? >> it affects other credibility. >> absolutely.

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who died trying to save his young dprawts a house fire will be laid to rest at arlington cemetary, authorities say he escaped the burning home by jump frght second floor, running back inside to try and save them. cantrell served in iraq and did five tours of duty in afghanistan, earning four bronze stars and a purple heart. martha: we want to bring thank you now. we have brand new poll numbers on the gop battle and who stacks up better against president obama. some of our first numbers since supertuesday. this is pretty interesting. check out this latest rasmussen survey. mitt romney, look at that, which is the strongest candidate against president obama, mitt romney has 51 percent, a huge gulf between he and rick santorum that comes in at 19 percent on that reading.

scott rasmussen joins me, president of the aptly named rasmussen report. good morning, scott. >> good morning, martha. we've seen consistently that mitt romney has been seen as the most elctable candidate. it's getting stronger. twenty-four is what -- this is what keeps him in the frontrunner status. even those that are skeptical, a plurality also say when push comes to shove romney the -- is the strongest candidate against barack obama. martha: the next one, if the primary were held today and your only choices were mitt romney and rick santorum for whom would you vote, that's a wide margin, 50 percent for romney, 39 percent for rick santorum, and you did ask them, some other candidate or not sure, which is interesting. not a lot of people fell into that category. can we glean from that that people are starting to decide who they want in this

which they haven't been able to do? >> well, these numbers haven't changed much in the last week, and what they do raise questions about is the santorum argument that if newt gingrich would get out of the race he would be beating mitt romney. it's true that that would work out in a state like ohio or michigan. it wasn't true in the voting in florida. but right now, if it comes down to a head to head matchup, romney would win that as well as winning the more conventional ballot question that we asked. martha: that's a great point. let's take a look at this next one: if the 2012 republican primary were held today for a president would you vote for mitt romney or, rick santorum, newt gingrich or ron paul. this puts everybody in the mix and you can see the dynamic there. what do you make away from this one, scott? >> again, very little change. a week ago romney avs the 40, now he's at 39, santorum won three states on supertuesday, he is the alternative right now to mitt romney but the race does appear to be getting a little more stable. one other detail from this, represented to this

question, 80 percent of republican primary voters, eight out of ten, now say that regardless of who they want to win, they do believe that romney will be the nominee. martha: yeah, that seems to be the collective wisdom at this point. let's take a look at one more. what's more important, and this really goes to the issue of sort of the romney candidate and what we have called through the course of this for lack of a better term the not romney candidate and in many the not romney has represent dollars the top candidate, who does better at representing gop values, 37 percent, but electibility, throughout this whole thing, as we do exit poll, it really has -- polls, it really has been the name of the game. >> it is. it's the most important issue. and also, there's an story line out there, that tea party activists with more interested in purity. in fact they're interested more than anybody else in a candidate who can beat barack obama. what this tells us, when all is said and done, when the

republicans do have a nominee, most of the republican voters, the overwhelming majority, will put aside their preferences and vote against barack obama, even if they're not terribly enthusiastic about the gop nominee. martha: all right. the tale continues. scott, thank you very much. scott rasmussen, author of a new book, and it is called "the peoples' money". it's the number one best seller in politics on amazon congratulations to scott, number one on barnes & noble as well! >> bill: got the market cornered. well done, scott! >> what do you think at home? is a long republican primary good or bad for the party? right now, 62 percent saying it's hurting the party. about one third disagree. we think it's okay, keep it rolling. go to our website, foxnews.com/"america's newsroom" and weigh in on your vote there. that story is going to get a lot of attention, martha, you can imagine, over the coming months. martha: it's going to be a huge kitchen table debate now. we're getting a good read on

it. >> it was a shopping trip that got a police officer -- this is the best picture of the day. have you ever seen anything like this? can you imagine? riding around with two mattresses on the top of a police car? it has to do with her rye tierlt and what was happening, but the retirement is not going to go exactly the way she hoped >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ mr. sandman, bring me a dream. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ make him the cutest that i've ever seen. >> ♪ >> ♪ your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

martha: talk about sleeping on the job! i bet you haven't seen this before! a police car with mattresses tied to the roof! that's a good look, right? that's miami-dade police and this picture has gone viral, it's gotten international attention, even. the office was actually set to retire on monday, and has been with the force for 32

years, and disciplined more than a dozen times, i might add. she's been relieved of duty while the department investigates. bill: i see nothing wrong with that! i see nothing wrong with that! i think it's a lot cheaper than a ryder truck! >> martha: you got to be kidding me! doesn't matter whether it's a police car arnot! bill: she's a mover. >> crimes and guns when the supreme court ruled against a handgun ban in washington, d.c. the mayors of those cities predicted doom. now the windy city's mayor is so angry about the decision he says people may settle disputes in the streets like they did in the days of the wild west. but do crime statistics tell a different story? william la jeunesse has a look at the numbers in l.a., good morning. >> reporter: bill, if the murder rate had gone up 20-30 percent as many feared there would be headlines and calls for more gun controls but what if the opposite happened? gun sales are up, 33 percent in the last five years, 49 states now allowed a

concealed carry, yet violent crime nationally is down. >> i knew he was out there, and so i got my gun out of a drawer, ran out and let him have it. >> reporter: charles robbins took things into his own hands when a burglar tried breaking into his florida home. many predicted incidents like this would increase after the supreme court overturned gun bans in chicago and washington, d.c. >> more han guns in the district of columbia will only lead to more handgun violence. >> reporter: but so far, statistics say something else. >> murder rates have fallen nationally. but nowhere near close to the huge drop that we've seen in d.c. or now we're seeing in chicago. >> reporter: in chicago and washington, homicide, violent and property crime rates all fell, after the supreme court's decision that upheld an individual's right to own a gun. >> letting people be able to go and defend themselves helps deter criminals from

attacking. >> there's a lot of data and you have to be careful about confusing what's going on out there. >> antigun advocates say national crime rates have continued falling for a variety of reasons and believe the harm of guns far outweigh their benefits, the most recent case in point, the shooting in ohio. >> we still have 30,000 gun deaths a year and what's interesting, there's also a trend that there are more gun injuries. >> reporter: but right now, the falling homicide rate nationwide and record gun ownership, many argue there's not the correlation between gun and -- guns and crime that some predicted. bill: william la jeunesse, interesting answers there. martha, what's next? martha: the pressure is on for republicans to wrap up the nomination. what could be the key to doing just that? [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition?

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bill: martha, you had a real honor to there be in washington. how did it go? martha: it went really well

last night. i had the pleasure of hosting an event here in d.c. with three of the american idols, they were amazing. they sang hallelujah together and it was beautiful. they have all spent time in africa happying to distribute and bringing education to folks in africa which is something i'm going to be doing next week in the -- on the ground in guana. a child dies every single minute from malaria in africa but the good news, it's a fight we are winning and we hope to live in a world where there will be malaria no more at some point that's what we're working on. bill: pretty remarkable, the progress they've made over the last several years. >> it truly is. bill: have a wonderful trip, bring back great stories. i'll look forward what hearingotomy. martha: thanks bill, see you back there tomorrow. bill: you bet. "happen position now" starts right now. jenna: iran is reportedly covering up nuclear testing